The 46th annual Kuskokwim 300 is in the books. This year’s race was postponed for two weeks for lack of snow and then moved up seven hours to avoid another thaw which was forecasted. After all of that, the race was among the smoothest ever, with an excellent trail and weather conditions. Some observations from a guy who has been a part of every race to date: Where have all the women racers gone? This year there was one, 17 year old Emily Robinson, but in past years there were often several women involved. There are no women taking part in K300 weekend races either. In an event where men and women can compete evenly, it is unfortunate that more women are not taking part. Participation statewide is down, and this news article discusses that situation. Between climate issues and financial issues, the future is not promising for dog racing. The YK delta has often been subject to winter rain and thaw and recent years have been worse. The K300 has been fortunate to pull off 46 races without a cancelation but that string is in jeopardy. This news article discusses recent Alaska weather issues. And yes, January was once again this hottest January on record worldwide. For those who wonder how much dogs enjoy racing, check out this clip of champion Pete Kaiser getting ready to leave the last checkpoint in Tuluksak.
In the aftermath of the dog race, it is common to thank all the volunteers and sponsors that make the race happen, and this might be the right place to acknowledge someone who has been an avid supporter of the K300 for a long time. Jackie Klejka holds no official title with the race, but acts as a helper for the race vets who keep an eye on the dogs throughout the race. But that is a small part of her support. Jackie attends every K300 event, helping out in any way she can. She has long hosted racers and other race people in her already crowded home during race week, even when she had 7 kids living at home. She also had a competitive dog team tied under her house, and her kids took part in countless races over the years. Two of them became champions of the Junior Iditarod race. Jackie proudly wears K300 attire much of the time, and her social media posts frequently reflect her support for dog racing. Her walls are plastered with dog race art. Jackie’s enthusiasm for life and her electric personality would cause many folks to assume she is about 40 years old when she is actually 60. Jackie is a K300 treasure.
Katie Basile always takes photos of K300 racers before the event for use on the website and elsewhere. Here is one of her shots, this time with racer Sam Brewer and some old guy who snuck in when she wasn’t looking.
Mandatory Moose & Other Characters
This month’s Mandatory Moose paid a visit to the K300 finish line when the last team was coming into the chute. Dolly Angstman snapped this shot.
Here is a polar bear catching some rest.
John McDonald took this photo of an ermine scoping out a rabbit in his yard.
A man from Koliganek Herman Nelson visits the lodge occasionally to catch subsistence fish. He came this year and this video shows him enjoying a fresh treat from a fish he caught, raw fish eggs with salt.
Speaking of eggs, the price has spiked since Trump took over despite promises to bring down grocery prices on Day 1. Of course that was never going to happen but many people voted for him because of that promise. Here is a cartoon posted by Rich Trotto that brings it all home.
Magpies are common in Anchorage and they are smart. Here is proof.
Granddaughter Mary Simeon makes the news often for her scientific work. Here is a recent honor she received.
Connor Dog Park is mentioned here often as a great place to take Jack for a walk. Anchorage attorney Paul Malin also goes there, and takes great pictures. What a place to go for an hour in the afternoon.
Bethel’s warm weather this winter causes one to think of past times when it wasn’t so warm. In 2007 Andy was training for the Iditarod with family friend Ryan Evans and an experienced guide on snow machine. On a cold weekend, a long trip to Tuluksak and back was planned. The schedule called for a five hour run to Tuluksak, four hours in the school gym and a five hour ride home. That put the trio about 5 miles from Bethel at daybreak at about -20 with a modest 10 -15 mph tailwind. As the two teams climbed the bank of the Kuskokwim to join the overland trail home, two runners appeared headed the opposite direction. Both were dressed fairly lightly, of course planning to keep running to stay warm. It was only half light so it took a while to figure out it was Gary Baldwin and Sam Crowe, two hard core runners from Bethel. After training dogs for many years, it is clear that finding folks on the trail at -40 windchill is not all that common, but especially lightly dressed folks out for a run. They were asked about the risk of running that far from home in such weather. "That’s why we run together, for safety." The response was immediate. "So if one of you breaks a leg the other can run back to town and tell them where to find the frozen body??" They managed to survive and are still running.
ALO Update
ALO settled two major cases recently. The first involved sexual abuse by a coach in the Kodiak school district. This article describes the situation, from the perspective of the criminal case which resulted in a jail sentence for the coach. The other case involved the death of an elderly patient at an Anchorage assisted living center. This woman was a known fall risk, and her last two falls resulted in serious head injuries, causing her death. These falls happened during Covid and her family was not kept informed of the situation. Photos showed golf ball sized lumps on the victim’s head caused by the falls, and her caretakers attributed those bruises to mosquito bites. An expert witness noted that there are established protocols for dealing with people who are known fall risks, none of which were followed at this facility.
A Comedy of Errors in Foreign Policy and Corruption
With all the chaos in the Federal Government, it's hard to pick out the most concerning, but it's worth a try. At the top of the list are the recent comments by Vance and Musk that the court orders interfering with Trump’s agenda should not be honored. Now that is scary. It is well known that the court system is the ultimate source for guidance on what is allowable within our government. If someone ignores a court order there is no other place to turn. Lawless activity, and there has been plenty of that recently, can only be challenged in court and enforced by officers of the law. There is no other control. And while some may applaud the actions of the current administration it is best to remember that once it is established that courts have no control over executive actions, that will apply to future conduct as well when another party might be in control. Checks and balances are the cornerstone of the American system.
Another area of great concern is the apparent continued effort to cozy up to Russia. Coming out with a position contrary to NATO that would reward Russia for invading Ukraine is certainly not in America’s best interest. Russia has been adverse to the US for a long time and this is not the time to change that. Some suggest the current administration leans toward fascism. Consider these points and decide for yourself.
Another area of concern is a trend toward corruption. In fact, the current administration has disbanded the anti-corruption unit of the government that focused on that subject.
The recent decision to drop the prosecution of the New York City mayor reeks of corruption, so much so that career prosecutors appointed by Trump have resigned because of it. No one knows what the Mayor and Trump talked about when they met in Florida recently, but it likely wasn’t golf scores.
Tangled Up In Minnesota
The recently released Bob Dylan movie brings to light many Dylan connections. Of course he was born in Minnesota and got his professional start on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota. He left there for New York in the 60’s and just after that one of his early venues called the Triangle Bar became a regular stop for this fan who lived nearby. Long time patrons would recall Dylan performing in a little elevated corner near the ceiling of the bar, at the pointed end of the building shown here
It was a space barely big enough for one person to perform but by 1967 it was hallowed ground as Dylan became a star. Former Bethel friend Jane McClure recalls Dylan as a house guest of her parents in San Francisco. This photo hanging on Jane’s wall shows Dylan next to her dad Mike McClure in the middle of the photo.
Mike was a famous Beat Generation poet of that era, as was Allen Ginsburg on the far right. Here is a 1974 piece about Dylan written by McClure. Dylan also had connections to Bethel where his boyhood friend Louie Kemp was a fish buyer in the 70s and 80s. Rich Trotto used to work for Kemp, and recalls answering phone calls from Dylan and Joan Baez. He would also pack boxes of salmon to send to Dylan. It was always rumored that Dylan was going to visit Kemp in Bethel but he never did.
Are there any other husbands out there who go grocery shopping? This Fox news guy is clueless.
Finally some quotes from four year old Grandson Jack. First a joke he told.” What do you call a sleeping bull?? A bull dozer." (followed by a big laugh). And an announcement he made while racing around the house with his sister. “Ada, pause the game, I have to poop”
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